Dota 2 has been officially confirmed for Esports World Cup 2027, joining the iconic EWC lineup of games for the fourth consecutive year. Since joining the EWC lineup, Dota 2 has been one of the most highly contested titles, with three different Clubs and three completely different rosters lifting the trophy over the past three iterations. No Club or player has ever won twice, yet.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of Dota 2 at EWC 2027, including the major stories from the tournament in 2026 and the teams and players to watch as the new season gets underway.
PVISION emerged victorious in 2026, finding redemption from their semifinals loss in 2025, and stamping their global and regional dominance. PVISION finished atop the group stage standings without losing a single match, drawing only once against Team Spirit, the winners of EWC 2025 and the team that sent PVISION home.
After dispatching Rune Eaters and Team Yandex in playoffs, PVISION met regional rivals BB Team in the grand finals. Despite struggling in the opening game of the best-of-five, PVISION shook off the nerves and delivered three straight dominant games to secure the Dota 2 EWC 2026 trophy 3-1. Evgeniy "Noticed" Ignatenko was named SONY MVP for his performance during the tournament, playing an instrumental role in the team's run throughout the two-week competition.
Team Spirit may have failed to repeat as EWC Dota 2 champions, but they didn't let their failure in Paris deter them from creating success at The International. Just a month after their elimination at EWC, Team Spirit lifted the trophy at The International 2026 in Shanghai, making history in the process. With their victory, teammates Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk and Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov became the first Dota 2 players ever to win three TIs, doing so before the age of 25, and winning all three under the Team Spirit banner.
Meanwhile, just a few weeks after bringing in young Jordanian star Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf from the disbanded Team Falcons roster, Team Yandex has already added two more trophies to a stacked cabinet. While both EWC 2026 and The International ended in third place for Team Yandex, ATF's arrival has acted as a catalyst, energizing the squad and leading to trophies at PGL Wallachia Season 9 and BLAST SLAM VIII.
Team Falcons’ departure from Dota 2 came as a big surprise to the community, especially since, after entering the scene in November 2023, they made no roster changes and won a plethora of major trophies, including The International in 2025. ATF has joined Team Yandex and immediately resumed his winning ways, but where have the other former members landed?
Oliver "skiter" Lepko has joined the Southeast Asian/Ukrainian roster of Aurora Gaming, with the Club hoping he can deliver them the tier-one trophy they’ve been seeking. Team Liquid secured Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak from the former Falcons team, just a month after signing Bolivian veteran Adrián "Wisper" Dobles, though losses to Aurora and the American core of GamerLegion sent them home from BLAST VIII in their debut. Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu’s decade-long career isn’t over just yet, as he’s joined a brand new LGD Gaming roster formed just last month, and one that features the youngest ever TI winner, Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan. Finally, Danish veteran Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen announced he’d be taking an indefinite break from competing.
For more information, visit esportsworldcup.com and follow EWC on X and Instagram, and the Esports Foundation on LinkedIn.
The Esports World Cup (EWC) is a premier annual sporting event and global celebration of competitive excellence and esports fandom. The competition features a unique cross-game format that pits the world's top esports Clubs against one another for the largest prize pool in esports history. Returning in the summer of 2027, the EWC will bring gaming and esports communities together again to crown the next Esports World Cup Club Champion. esportsworldcup.com
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